Your Thoughts Exactly

Just to recap: I have taken The Source’s list of 5 mic albums, which contained 42 albums. I booted off 13 albums for various reasons, letting albums stay if I thought they were banging enough. In other words, I gave The Source the benefit of the doubt. I added 21 albums I thought The Source criminally overlooked. I marked these new albums for your pleasure with an *. I then ranked them in preference 50-1. I also included some songs you might want to download illegally. I should note that by the time you get to the top 20, it’s really hard to pick out songs, so you should think about getting the whole album.
I already have problems with the list and I haven’t even put up the top 30. In fact, I have problems ranking the number 30 album over Ironman or Capital Punishment. Oh well too late now.

30) Ice Cube-Death Certificate- No one, I mean no one, plays the angry black man role better than Ice Cube. He sounds so damn dangerous on the mic. Forget that he is 5 foot 5 inches, I wouldn’t step to him. Well I wouldn’t step to him before 1996, I’d probably step to him now. This album is best known for the N.W.A. dis song “No Vaseline,” where Cube just annihilates his old groupmates. The group didn’t even respond: Dre ended up releasing a dis song a year later…about Easy-E. Now that is a victory for Ice Cube. Songs: “No Vaseline,” “Doing Dumb Shit,” “Steady Mobbin’”

29) EPMD-Strictly Business- I feel like most people have heard of NWA, Public Enemy, Run DMC, and Rakim. Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith aren’t exactly household names however. Interesting because from 1988-192 they were about as big and important as these other groups. This is probably because they do nothing spectacularly; Parrish is a decent rapper, Sermon sounds like he has a mouth full of marbles, and the beats are hot, but not mind-blowing. Yet their best singles are as good as anyone else’s. Not great rappers, but a great group Songs- “You gots to Chill,” “You’re a Customer.”

28) *De La Soul-Three Feet High and Rising- I actually refused to get this album for years, based on the reviews I read of it: which were all exceedingly positive. These reviews mostly went: “Positive messages from this group are a welcome relief from the hedonism, profanity, and excess of gangster rap.” Well this was no good: I want my rap hedonistic, profane and excessive! Finally, I could no longer ignore the evidence that: 1) they were in the same crew as A Tribe Called Quest, 2) their albums were produced by Prince Paul. Surround yourself with that kind of quality and you’re bound to make great hip-hop. Which they did. Songs- “Eye Know,” “Breakadawn,” “Say No Go.”

27) Outkast-Aquemini- Remember back when Andre wasn’t singing like a dying cat? And when Big Boi and Andre were on songs together? Ah the good old days. If they had cut this album off at ten songs, it would probably be in my top ten. Of course, then the world would be without “Spottieottiedopalicious”, worth the trade off I think. “Rosa Parks,” also holds a special place in my heart as the first song I ever realized was incredible while high. Songs- “Rosa Parks,” Skew it on the BBQ,” “West Savannah.”

26) *Deltron 3030- Deltron 3030- Rap’s greatest opera. They should make this into a musical, complete with orchestral accompaniment. I’d see it. The summer after Sophomore year I thought about arranging these songs into A Cappella format and convincing my friend Dorf to make his group sing them. I was really bored that summer. Songs- “3030,” “Positive Contact,” “Mastermind.”

25) Boogie Down Productions-Criminal Minded- Battling and dis raps have always been an important part of hip-hop, although there was a bit of a break from it after the whole Biggie-Pac murder thing. Now people are starting to release dis records again, but they are mostly lame. No one has the nuts to take someone on that they might lose to, so MCs like 50 and Busta Rhymes spend there time dissing Ja Rule. That’s like me beating some third-graders in basketball. Third-grade girls. Anyways, download MC Shan’s “The Bridge,” to hear an example of an early dis song, simple beats, relatively simple lyrics, whatever. Then download BDP’s “The Bridge is Over,” released a year later. To put what KRS does to Shan and the Juice crew into perspective, imagine what it would have been like to see Jordan play basketball against the pre-shot clock NBA. Songs- “The Bridge is Over,” “South Bronx,” “Poetry.”

24) *Juvenile-400 Degreez- I hate, hate, hate, when people try to categorize groups and rappers into “rap,” and “hip-hop,” on seemingly arbitrary lines. Those musicians that are categorized “rap,” are seemingly bad, while those that are “hip-hop,” are good. No group faces more venom than Cash Money for being “rap,” mostly because “Bling Bling,” was such a big hit that it put the words in the Oxford Dictionary. Look Cash Money isn’t perfect; they release too many mediocre albums, and some of the rappers aren’t great. But you can’t deny Mannie Fresh is a great producer. And I think Juvenile is a great rapper. His flow is fantastic, and he probably is my favorite rapper when it comes to how his voice sounds on the mic. This is a totally underrated part of rap that most people don’t talk about: for example, Eminem has a good flow, and occasionally great rhymes, but he sounds like a whiny twelve year old on the mic. Juvenile sounds dangerous and cool at the same time, without sounding stupid, a problem for many southern rappers. And people.
Songs- “Ha,” “Rich Niggaz,” “Follow Me Now.”

23) Jay Z-Reasonable Doubt- Lots of people hate Jay Z, I think the hatred grows because the singles he releases to the radio are often the worst songs off his albums. See “Change Clothes,” and “H to the Izzo.” I guess if my only exposure to Jay was hearing these songs 300 times each, I’d hate him too. Well this is the album that even Jay-Z haters will love, because it contains no annoying, radio-friendly songs.
Songs- “Regrets,” “Dead Presidents II,” “Brooklyn’s Finest.”

22) Mobb Deep-The Infamous- Some albums are great “road,” albums, you pop them in each time you are on a long drive across the Illinois plains on the way to visit some friends. If I was ever on my way to smuggle cocaine across state lines and sell it in some crackhouse in the middle of New York’s worst ghetto, with a high probability of a gunfight breaking out, this is the album I would pop in on the ride.
Songs- “Shook Ones Pt. II,” “Right Back at You,” “Survival of the Fittest.”

21) Public Enemy-It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back-Why is this album considered to be the greatest of all time? Well first there the fact its political-rap as opposed to gangster, which makes it more credible for rock journalists. Second, I believe most journalists when they pop in the CD only get to the first two songs, “Bring the Noise,” and “Don’t Believe the Hype.” Awesome, awesome songs, but let’s listen to the rest of the album, ok guys? Most of the songs are hot, but there are definitely some missteps along the way. On the whole, the album is great, but for an album to be top-ten worthy, you can’t have any throwaway songs. Plus Flava Flav. I’m glad he is in the group, simply cause he wears a clock. But does he add anything at all? Songs: “Bring the Noise,” “Don’t Believe the Hype,” “Night of the Living Baseheads.”

20) Ice Cube-AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted- Looking at this album cover, I am reminded of how sad I am that I missed the jehri curl era. When will people start letting their Soul-Glo once again? (Note: I am doing my part to restart this trend, but my hair may not comply.) Songs- “The Bomb,” “The Nigga You Love to Hate.”

19) Eric B and Rakim-Paid in Full- Things that piss me off: When I get in an argument with people about rap, they pretend like they know what they are talking about and I don’t, then I mention Rakim’s name, and they say…”It’s Ra-keem,” and shake there head at me like I am some fool. This of course, makes me laugh because it proves said honky hasn’t actually listened to any Rakim songs, since he says his name in every fucking song. I think Rakim would probably be the ultimate authority on the pronunciation of his own name.
Songs- “I know you got Soul,” “My Melody,” “I Aint no Joke.”

18) *Dr. Octagon-Dr. Octagonecologyst- The album responsible for revitalizing the underground hip-hop scene around weird-ass production and rhymes. All of what Kool Keith says on this album makes absolutely no sense. Luckily for me, I have a juvenile sense of humor, and can laugh at lines like… “Think about it, if you were standing there laughing at me, what would you do, if I hit your face with dog doo-doo.” Brilliant,poetry. This album also probably has the best skits ever.
Songs- “Blue Flowers,” “Wild and Crazy,” “I’m Destructive.”

17) *Gravediggaz-6 feet Deep- Released in 1994 in the middle of the Snoop murder trial and the heart of the gangsta rap age; this album responds to criticism of violence in hip-hop by taking the violence to such extreme levels it had to be a joke. The production from Rza and Prince Paul is so good, and the rhymes so darkly hysterical, that they can pull off songs with titles like “1-800-SUICIDE.” Songs- “1-800-Suicide,” “Here come the Gravediggaz,” “Trippin’”

16) N.W.A.-Straight Outta Compton- What is it about an album like this one that scares people so much? The songs and videos were banned from the radio, which naturally made them much more popular. Did people in the 80s fear an album like this would cause riots? People from South Central would be taking over The O.C.? I can see it now, Easy E steals a car and is caught, and end’s up living in his public defender’s home, where he taunts Seth about his comic collection, gives Marissa the HIV, and homie MC Ren ends up impregnating Summer and Ms. Cooper. Whoops got my genres crossed
Songs: “Straight Outta Compton,” “Gangsta Gangsta,”

15) Ultramagnetic MCs-Critical Beatdown- Another thing against “It Takes a Nation…,” being the best album ever: they stole a lot of their sampling ideas from this album, released the same year. Actually on whole 8 of the albums on this list were relased in 1988, more than any other year, which is why you will hear people refer to the late 1980s as the golden age of hip-hop. I respectfully disagree, because, while 1986-1990 saw a number of great releases, the absolute best albums pretty much all come from 1992-1996. In face, there are no more albums on this list from the late 1980s with two exceptions.
Songs- “Ego Trippin’,” “Watch Me Now,” “Ease Back.”

14) *Eric B and Rakim “Follow the Leader,” One of the exceptions. Most critics put “Paid in Full,” above this album, and The Source didn’t even have it on their list. I am not sure how they reached this conclusion; this one contains their three best songs, and albums back then were basically 8 songs with 2 DJ tracks. Plus the production is much more modern, only a year later.
Songs- “Follow the Leader,” “Microphone Fiend,” “Lyrics of Fury.”

13) Notorious B.I.G.-Ready to Die- Biggie, along with Nas, were guilty of taking the “rapper as mafia don,” too seriously on their second albums. The pressure to follow up for these two rappers to follow up from their debuts must have been unbearable But it’s interesting, so many classic albums from rappers are their debuts. It’s like once they hit it big, they lose the hunger that drove them to succeed in the first place. Too much fancy liquor, weed, coke, and sex with models. Poor guys. Seriously rappers produce great albums when they have a reason to: they are poor, they are our for respect, etc. Reminds me of the quote on The Black Album, “treat my first like my last.” Easy to say, Harder to do.
Songs- “Gimme the Loot,” “Everyday Struggle,” “Juicy.”.

12) A Tribe Called Quest-“The Low End Theory”- In Tribe you have the opposite case, a group who released a classic right from the get-go, and then proceeded to release albums that got successively better, (at least for a while.) This phenomenon is rare in rap; the only rappers I can think that have released classics at the get-go and kept up or increased their production are Outkast, Public Enemy, Run DMC, De La Soul, Wu-Tang (solo albums included.)…Is this a cause of having multiple MCs that can compete with each other to push the group to higher levels? Songs- “Check the Rhyme,” “Buggin Out, “Scenario.”

11) *Redman-Whut? thee Album- Warning: I may have overrated this album since I only got it two months ago. I doubt it though. It’s 5 mic worthy 4 sho. Songs- “Rated R,” “Time 4 sum Aksion.”

10) *Bone Thugs-n-Harmony-East 1999 Eternal- I will defend this album to my grave. The production is a great blend of West Coast g-funk and eastern gangsta. The rappin style is unique. And you can listen to it 100 times and still have no idea what they are saying half the time. It’s like a puzzle! Songs- “1st of tha Month,” “Eternal,” “Mo Murda.”

9) *Outkast-ATLiens- I have this fear that I will come home one day, and see that my Dad has bought Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, in an attempt to be hip. He will only listen to Andre’s CD, and talk about how musically progressive it is, as I shake my head in disgust. If this does happen, I will have to sit him down, pop this CD in, and say “now Dad, THIS is why Outkast is a great group.” Songs- “13th Floor,” “Ova da Woods,” “Wheelz of Steel.”

8) *A Tribe Called Quest-Midnight Marauders- This is the album that inspired this list. I don’t understand how The Source could leave it off. Maybe because it came out in the middle of the West Coast gangsta age, and wasn’t hip enough. More likely because The Source didn’t want anyone having more than two albums on the list, because they would be inferring that Tribe had a greater catalogue then hip-hop martyrs Biggie or 2pac. Well they do . Songs- “Oh My God,” “Award Tour,” “Steve Biko.”

7) Snoop Doggy Dogg-Doggystyle- This album was considered a disappointment when released for some reason. Evidently 5 hit singles weren’t enough. Early 90s Snoop is my favorite rapper of all time. After the murder trial he lost something; I guess he’s an example of what happens when you smoke too much weed. Its like he doesn’t even try on some later albums, just rhyming “LBC,” with “DOG.” On this masterpiece though, he runs the show. Songs- “Tha Shiznit,” “Gzs and Hustlaz,” “G Funk Intro.”

6) Raekwon-Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Niggas- When a lot of people listen to this CD, they say, “it’s good, but I can’t pick out one song that’s amazing over the others.” Well if you listen to it enough, you’ll come to realize that’s because they are all amazing. Time to cream over Rza’s production. You listen songs like “Verbal Intercourse,” or “Glaciers of Ice,” and think “how do you make this beat out of fragments of old soul records?” This album is the equal of Entroducing in terms of production, in my opinion. And you have two great rappers with tons of great guest stars on all the tracks. Songs- “Criminology,” “Heaven and Hell,” “the whole damn album.”

5) Dr. Dre-The Chronic- The ultimate West Coast Banger. Like Doggystyle, you’ve heard the singles 100 times. Thus it’s easy to overlook that some of the best beats and best songs ever are among the album tracks. Songs- “Stranded on Death Row,” “A Nigga with a Gun,” “The Day the Niggaz Took Over.”

4) Slick Rick-The Great Adventures of Slick Rick- The pinnacle of greatness for a single MC. He has the greatest voice on the mic, a sort of half British accent. He is legititmately hilarious. And he makes it sound so damn easy. Songs- “Mona Lisa,” “Children’s Story,” “Indian Girl,” “Treat her Like a Prostitute.”

3), *Gza-Liquid Swords- So who is the best MC in the Wu-Tang Clan? Obviously not Masta Killa or U-God. ODB can be hilarious and definitely is unique. Inspectah Deck is underrated and overshadowed, but not the best. Raekwon is incredibly solid and consistent, but doesn’t have a ton of “holy shit,” verses. I’ve never heard anyone say Rza was their favorite MC, other than The Deuce. But he also doesn’t like banks. That leaves Method Man, Ghost, and the Gza. If you were going to go just on top 5 verses alone, you’d probably say Method Man. He has fallen so far in the last 5 years though it’s hard to say. He and Snoop are the lessons of what happens when you smoke too much weed. Ghost definitely has the best album catalogue of any Wu-member, with 4 great albums and one on this list. But put even Ironman up against this album, and it’s really no contest. Sure part of that is due to Rza, but the Genius kills every verse on here outshining all the other Wu guests, none of whom drop a weak verse themselves. Add to that his performances on the Wu group releases, and I’d give the title to Gza. Songs- “4th Chamber,” “Shadowboxin,” “Liquid Swords,” “Gold.”

2) Nas-Illmatic- I thought Nas was kind of a chump for about 3 years. Then I listened to this cd. If someone releases a piece of art like this, he is worthy of your respect no matter how many terrible singles he releases (Nastradamus, Oochie Wallie, for example.) Songs- “Life’s a Bitch,” “Halftime,” “It Aint Hard to Tell,” “Memory Lane.”

1) Wu-Tang Clan-Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)- You were expecting something else? When U-God and Masta Killa are dropping classic verses, you know you’re in trouble. Songs- “Protect ya Neck,” “Da Mystery of Chessboxin,” “7th Chamber.”